The Invisible Guest: A Tightly Woven, Underrated Murder Mystery

A locked-room setup kicks off Oriol Paulo’s The Invisible Guest (Contratiempo), a murder mystery that unfolds through layered storytelling. Businessman Adrián Doria is found in a hotel room beside the body of his lover, Laura Vidal, and sharp defense attorney Virginia Goodman works to dismantle his account, setting off a high-stakes cat-and-mouse between confession and concealment.

The plot hinges on a deadly car accident: Adrián and Laura hit a young man, panic and cover up the scene, and ultimately hide the victim’s car and body in a lake. A tense turn arrives when local automotive engineer Tomás Garrido offers to help repair Adrián’s vehicle and is revealed to be the victim’s father, deepening the film’s web of guilt, revenge and betrayal.

The Invisible Guest keeps its characters in moral gray areas. The affair, the decision to hide the truth, and Adrián’s manipulations ripple outward, drawing others into deception, while Virginia Goodman uses psychological traps to pry loose inconsistent versions of events.

invisible guest, contratiempo, oriol paulo, adrián doria, virginia goodman, laura vidal, tomás garrido, locked room, murder mystery, car accident